Northern Maleberry
Lyonia ligustrina var. ligustrina
Found in mountain bogs, shrub balds, bottomlands, other moist to wet habitats, "dry" exposed ridges at high elevations. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 53%
- Light
- Up to 6 hours of direct sun
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 7 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Who uses this plant?
11CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Lyonia
- Argyrostrotis quadrifilarisFour-Lined Chocolate, Hickory Leafroller
- Catocala andromedaeAndromeda Underwing
- Cecrita biundataWavy-Lined Heterocampa
- Datana majorMajor Datana, Azalea Caterpillar
- Datana ministraYellow-Necked Caterpillar Moth
- Megalopyge opercularisSouthern Flannel Moth, Puss Caterpillar
- Nola pustulataSharp-Blotched Nola
- Pangrapta decoralisDecorated Owlet
- Paonias astylusHuckleberry Sphinx
- Sphinx gordiusApple Sphinx
Show all 11
- Xestia elimataSouthern Variable Dart, Southern Pine Dart
19BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Lyonia
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
4Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Lyonia
- Andrena kalmiae
- Colletes productus
- Melitta melittoides
- Perdita novaeangliae
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- ERICACEAE
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5T5? |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications